


Love Amongst the Compactus

by koalathebear



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M, Fluff, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-07
Updated: 2016-02-07
Packaged: 2018-05-18 18:41:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5939014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/koalathebear/pseuds/koalathebear
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This silly scribble hopped into my head when I saw two colleagues at work emerging from some compactus the other day.  It was innocuous but it looked so funny ...</p><p>Not meant to be anything in particular .. it's just nice to write in my own Native Australian now and then ... :)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Love Amongst the Compactus

**Author's Note:**

> **Note:** "Compactus" seems to be an Australian term. In any case, it's just the [mobile shelving](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_shelving) you see in offices that are fitted with wheeled traction systems.

"Sorry - I didn't realise there was anyone back here." The young man looked a bit perplexed to find someone standing in the back corner of the compactus amidst the closely packed heavy storage units that were fitted on a wheeled traction system and mounted on a level trackway.

"I was ... uh ... filing," Tess lied unconvincingly. Not only was she not holding any folders, the section of the compactus in which she was standing were all closed up with not a single accessible shelf in sight.

"Do you need a hand?" he asked helpfully. The compactus in question were pretty old school, moved along by turning a rotary handle. "These are pretty heavy ..."

"Ummm ... no, I'm good ..." Tess' gaze dropped to the young officer's name patch. "...Lieutenant Commander O'Connell..."

He grinned. "You're a civilian. It's ok to just call me Michael. Or O'Connell."

"Right. Well, I'm Tess and I'm fine, thanks," she told him , trying not to feel foolish. "Just taking a time out. Do you need something?" she asked him brightly, her dark eyes cool and polite. "I'll get out of your way."

"No it's fine - I was just coming to check if I could find an old schematic here ... Thought it would save printing it out again and killing another tree."

"Well I'll be going ..." she announced.

"Sorry to interrupt your time out," he told her apologetically as she walked past him. She wore a light tangy fragrance that he decided he rather liked.

"No worries, hope you find what you're looking for," and then she was gone.

*

"Do you know him?" her colleague Kay asked her curiously, indicating the young Naval engineer sitting across the table from them in the project meeting.

"Not really ... " Tess replied, trying not to accidentally meet the young officer's gaze.

"Well he keeps looking at you. He's really cute."

"Do you want to say that any louder?" Tess demanded with asperity. The project manager glared at them both and Tess shot her colleague a "look what you've done!" look. It resulted in her inadvertently catching sight of Michael who was grinning at her in amusement.

Tess turned away from him to focus her attention back on the proceedings of the meeting. After the meeting, she hurried off to a teleconference. Michael nodded at her and she acknowledged him with a faint inclination of her own head.

*

"Are you stalking me?" Tess demanded later that day when he came upon her in the compactus again.

"No," he replied innocently,"But I'm like you - I'm sitting at an open plan desk, no privacy ... It seems like a good place to come to collect my thoughts. I'll be over here in this corner," he told her, pointing to the right. Kay was right. He _was_ cute. Tall, lean and tanned he made the Navy DPNU look good, which was a nice change to the portly senior officers who were bursting out of the seams of their uniforms. His dark hair was cut short but she suspected that it would probably curl if allowed to grow and he had an open and easy smile that curved his firm mouth.

It was a nice mouth. The lips weren't too thin, they weren't fleshy and sausage-like ... They were just right. A lot like the rest of him. Not her type. Admittedly, Tess was still going through the craptacular process of finding out exactly what her type was but she was smart - she knew for sure that it wasn't the beautiful young man standing before her.

O'Connell walked to a separate section of the compactus and she could hear the creaking of the shelves as he turned the rotary handle that was stiff from disuse. It was possible no one had moved these shelves in the last decade.

"Let me know if I'm at risk of crushing you to death," she heard him say.

Shaking her head, she walked down the narrow aisle of the compactus and went to stand a short distance from him. "Why are you really here?" she demanded.

"The pursuit of knowledge," he suggested and she grinned.

"Look, don't even bother flirting with me. I've worked with enough armed forces guys to know what you're like. I'm immune to your crap."

He looked outraged. "They were probably Air Force," he suggested. "Navy's way better."

"Same difference," she countered. "The last Navy guy I worked with had two girlfriends and a wife."

"The poor guy," Michael exclaimed comically, pretending to look horrified.

That made her laugh. "Happy to say both girlfriends have since dumped him and his wife has divorced him."

"I'm not flirting," he assured her,"just enjoying the feng shui," he suggested with a very serious tone.

"And the dust?"

"Atmospheric."

"Well I'll leave you to your pursuit of knowledge and enjoyment of the atmosphere then, I have to get back to work."

She was smiling when she left.

*

Michael watched in concern as Tess stared down at her notepad fixedly. She was right and the delegate was wrong but the exchange had not gone well for Tess and her suggestion had been given very short shrift - and very rudely in front of everyone. He watched as she pressed her full lips together into a tight line and swallowed hard, clearly retreating within herself.

He'd admired her pluck and in any case, she had all the facts and the delegate did not. "I think we should look into Tess' proposal further. Value for money doesn't just mean going with the cheapest option - we need the solution that's going to be fit for purpose in the long term and while we might have to cost-save on some parts - the engine definitely shouldn't be one of them," he announced.

He saw Tess stiffen but she said nothing. The meeting continued.

*

"Tess - I know you're there." She was standing on the other side of the shelving.

"I don't need your help - you don't have to come to my rescue, O'Connell," she bit out.

"Excuse me, but for reliability reasons, I definitely don't want to put in a sub-par engine," he told her flatly.

"Do you think it makes me feel better that you're more credible because you're a guy?"

"I'm more credible because I'm the platform engineer on the project," he pointed out mildly. He can hear the grating sound of a rotary handle.

"Tess - what are you doing?"

"Trying to crush an annoying Naval engineer to death."

*

"I don't really recognise you when you're not standing in the darkness of the compactus," Michael remarked.

"Very funny," she retorted as she fumbled for her car keys. He fell into step beside her, matching his longer strides to her smaller steps. "You don't need to walk me to my car."

"It's dark."

"How do I know _you're_ not dodgy?" she demanded.

He looked offended. "That's so unfair. I don't think I've done anything that warrants that."

"Lurking around the compactus all the time sounds pretty dodgy to me!"

He raised a laughing eyebrow at her,"Bit of pot calling the kettle there, missy," he said reprovingly and she rolled her eyes. When they arrived at her car, she glanced around. "Where's your car?"

"At home. I walk to work."

"Where do you live."

He told her and her eyes widened. "Get in, I'll give you a lift," she told him ungraciously.

"I told you, I walk."

"Don't be so gung-ho macho," she retorted. "Just tonight, you can ride home in luxury."

"This feels so luxurious," he commented with a grin as he slid the front seat back all the way and folded his long legs up inside her car His head almost hit the roof of her little car. They squabbled good-naturedly over the music selection as he gently trashed her music taste - or lack thereof.

When she pulled up in front of an apartment block, he grinned at her. "Thanks for the lift. I'm very honoured."

She couldn't help smiling on the ride home.

*

"Sorry I'm late," he apologised and handed her a cup of coffee. "Extra shot as required. Queues were ridiculous."

She leaned against the wall as they stood in the shadows of the shelving sipping their coffee.

"Busy morning?" she asked him and he nodded.

"Another working group meeting to discuss the design. They seem never-ending. You?"

"Back to back telcons all morning ... This is the first chance I've had to catch a breath." She closed her eyes. "But this coffee helps," she told him with a smile.

"But if you keep this up, you'll be bouncing off the walls," he gestured at her coffee.

"Better that than asleep," she replied gloomily. "They've just moved the deadline left, so I think I'm cactus."

"Nah, we'll get it done," he promised her.

"I wish I shared your optimism … " She closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them again. "O'Connell – you don't have a girlfriend, do you?" 

"You asking me out?" he asked her, blue eyes alight with amusement.

"God no," was her immediately response.

"I think I might be offended."

"Don't think about it," she suggested. "I was just thinking, if you have a girlfriend – what would she think of her boyfriend hanging around amongst the shelving all the time with strange women."

"You are kind of odd," he admitted and she threw a rolled up napkin at him which he caught neatly.

"No girlfriend. The last girl I was dating liked the idea of a man in uniform – but my overseas postings? Not so much."

"Well you can't really snuggle up with someone who's in the Middle East …Sorry, that was kind of mean."

He shrugged. "Can't really blame her… but yeah. I'm a free man – I can sit here amongst the compactus … or even stand on a desk if I want to."

"Wow, that's cool… any office furniture is yours for the taking …" she teased. "Thanks for the coffee. I'll see you during our next break – whenever the hell that is."

*

"I'm just going to – "

"Have a coffee with Michael in the compactus," Kay nodded, holding up a hand. "We know where to find you guys."

Frowning slightly, Tess headed over to the compactus and stopped abruptly, her eyes widening. Michael was already there and the expression on his face mirrored her own.

"Where are they?" she demanded in abject horror, staring at him and then back at the empty space where the compactus used to be.

"Damned if I know," he muttered, running a hand through his hair and turning it into an endearing and rumpled mess.

"Jemma – what happened to the compactus?" Tess demanded as the Division Head's EA walked past them. She stopped and looked at them, her unruly curls flying about her face as she glanced over at the stark emptiness of the floor.

"Oh – a couple of projects are moving downstairs. We need more floor space. Everything's in soft copy now anyway so we moved all the files to archives off-site. There's a web-form if you need to request anything."

"And the compactus?" Michael asked, his voice hollow and empty.

Jemma looked confused "No idea. We just told building management to take them away … it's big office equipment so it's not the sort of stuff we offer to people to buy …" Jemma walked away and left Tess and Michael standing side by side.

"Are you all right?" he asked her after a long pause.

"I think so."

"You don't sound all right."

"Where will I go when I need a quiet moment? The women's toilets are already filled with crying women."

"I'll find somewhere for you," he promised her earnestly. "Not the men's toilets though."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

They were silent for a moment longer. "Are _you_ ok?" she asked him.

"How will I get to see you?"

"We work on all the same projects, I see you all the time!" she pointed out.

"That's not what I mean."

"Oh."

"I think I have a solution, though."

"Oh?"

He turned and glanced at her, his face very serious even though his eyes were alight with a smile. "I think we'll have to go out."

"Like out – out?"

"Yeah." He reached out and took her hand in his and her eyes widened.

"I don't think I'm your type."

"It's the grief," he explained, gesturing with his free hand at the space where the compactus used to be. "It's making me do crazy things."

Her lips twitched. 

"Coffee?" he asked her.

"Where?"

"Coffee shop. Like normal people."

She thought about it for a moment. "OK. But only because I'm grief-stricken, too."

They walked towards the coffee shop and she thought about pointing out that they were still holding hands and it might be a little unprofessional to be doing that in the workplace. She decided against it. After all – they'd both had a hard day …

**fin**


End file.
